Method of making detergent packages



Aprii 21, 1953 J. A. ABBOTT, JR, ETAL METHOD OF MAKING DETERGENTPACKAGES Filed Oct. 19, 1950 I SUPPLYING DETERGENT SUPPLYING BINDERMIXING FUSIBLE BINDER WITH DETERGENT v WRAPPING HOT KNIFE currms FILMAPPLYING FILM DRYING INVENTOR JOHN A. ABBOTT JR DELBERT F. JURGENSEN JR.

Patented Apr. 21, 1953 METHOD OF MAKING DETERGENT PACKAGES John A.Abbott, Jr., Ridgefleld, N. J and Delbert F. Jurgensen, Jr., Tuckahoe,N. Y., assignors to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation ofNew Jersey Application October 19, 1950, Serial No. 190,989

10 Claims.

This invention relates to packages containing finely divided or granularmaterial, particularly to detergent or soap packages suitable for use ina single washing operation, and comprising the particles of a suitabledetergent enclosed in a tubular wrapper or rod that is readilydisintegratable in water during the washing operation, and also to themethod of making such packages.

This invention is also an improvement or alternative to the article andmethod disclosed in our and Charles Arelts co-pending application, S. N.114,042, filed September 3, 1949. It is also an improvement oralternative to the invention disclosed in our application, S. N. 48,233,filed September 8, 1948.

The principal object of this invention is a single use soap package thatmay be easily and cheaply manufactured.

A further object of this invention is to secure in a soap package aquantity of soap consisting of finely divided particles ready for rapiddispersion during washing.

The invention includes a method of sealing the open ends of anindividual tubular package, particularly one containing a granular orshredded material such as soap powder or talc.

This is accomplished by an article and method of making the same whichdoes not require the entire mass of the soap or other particlescontained therein to be fused, as by binder. In manufacturing articlesof this type containing a powdered or floecular soap or detergent one ofthe main difiiculties has been to retain the particles of soap ordetergent within rod while the ends are sealed. With the presentinvention, we accomplished this by means of a hot knife which seals thebinder along the path of the out only. This seal is sufficient to retainthe particles while the end film is applied.

In the accompanying drawing which forms a part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a view of a single package or soaparette with the skin partlytorn away to illustrate the particular nature of the contents; and

Fig. 2 is a flow sheet illustrating the steps in manufacturing our novelpackage.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows an article made in accordancewith our invention. In this instance, it is a. single use soap packagein which I is a cigarette paper wrapper con- 2 taining soap or detergentparticles II. The ends of this tubular package are sealed by the filmIt. The soap or detergent particles may be either in bead or flake form.The detergent powder may be composed of any suitable detergent, such asgranulated soap, soap flakes, soap powder or a synthetic detergent. Weprefer to use soap granules of the type sold by Procter and Gamble,Cincinnati, Ohio, under the trade name of Ivory Snow, although any othersuitable types may be used, such as Ivory Flakes," Oxydol, Rinso, andDuz." Examples of suitable synthetics are Nacconal NR" (retailed asSwerl) and Dreft." Synthetic detergents are marketed in bead or flakeform. For our purposes, the bead form of synthetic detergent is regardedas preferable because it packs more easily and is generally more readilydispersible than the flake form. It might be noted that Brett and "SwerPare manufactured in bead form. I

For a binder a fusible material having a melting point between and 400F. is desirable since the binder must not fuse at temperatures which maybe encountered in normal storage and must fuse or set at temperaturesbelow the charring point of the various materials present in thepackage. Suitable binders for this purpose are described in the abovereferred to co-pending application and further description herein istherefore deemed unnecessary except to state that we prefer stearic acidas binder.

Our novel package is made by mixing the .binder withthe detergent inproportions of 2-20% concentration by weight of binder and detergent.This mixture is then wrapped to form a cigarette rod in any conventionalmanner by which such rods may be formed. The rod is then severed intoindividual packages by a hot knife which fuses the binder along the lineof cut, thereby forming a temporary seal to retain the loose particleswithin the rod until the permanent seal is applied.

The function of the binder ends with this hot knife seal which forms afirm base whereon the permanent seal may be formed and which preventsloss of detergent after the knife has severed the rod into individualpackages. Such loss impairs the application of a secure film end closureand renders said end closure uneven, unattractive and unappealing to theeye.

Binder, of course, may be omitted provided the contents of the packageis either sufficiently thermoplastic to form a seal during a hot knifecutting, as with a high moisture content (low melting point) granulatedsoap, or where the contents are sufficiently interlocking to preventdusting as, for example, with shredded material.

The permanent seal is composed of a plastic film which we apply with athin jet nozzle to the end of the package. The film is then spreadthinly and evenly across the end surface of the package by a thin jet ofair and finally dried, preferably by radiant heat. This film adsorbs tothe edges of the wrapper.

We have also found that a thin film may be applied to the ends of thepackage by paste wheels or discs wherein half of a rotating disc travelsin the plastic film, while the other half applies it to the package end.

For film forming material we prefer to use polyvinyl alcohol,plasticized in ethyl alcohol and water, to which a rust preventativeshould be added to protect the apparatus. There are, of course, othersuitable materials, such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, or sodiumcarboxymethyl-hydroxyethyl cellulose.

While this invention is primarily designed to produce a novel soappackage, it may be used to form any package containing a granularmaterial, such as condiments, medicines, or other ingredients, andparticularly when such packages are designed to contain a singleapplication or dosage in a friable or water dispersible or solublecontainer. In the appended claims, the word granular is used in itsbroadest sense, and includes powdered, beaded r fioccular materials.

Having described our invention, what we claim 1. The method ofmanufacturing a detergent package suitable for a single washingoperation comprising mixing a granular detergent with sufficient fusiblbinder to form a coherent mass when fused forming a longitudinallysealed rod comprising a tubular wrapper and said mixture of detergentand binder, severing said formed rod into individual packages with a hotknife whereby said binder will be fused along the line of cut to preventsprinkling of said detergent particles, applying a film to permanentlyseal said end closure by applying a water dispersible film formingplastic thereto, spreading said plastic across said end and drying saidplastic until solid.

2. The process of manufacturing a water disintegratable Package suitablefor a single washing operation comprising forming an elongatedlongitudinally sealed rod comprising a wrapper enclosing a mixture of acomminuted detergent and suflicient fusible binder to form a coherentmass when fused, severing said rod into individual packages with a hotknife to fuse the binder along the line of cut and applying a filmforming water dispersible plastic material to the ends of said package.

3. The method of sealing the ends of a tubular package containing agranulated material comprising first mixing said granulated materialwith sufficient fusible binder to form a coherent mass when fused,forming an elongated longitudinally sealed rod comprising a wrapperenclosing said mixed material, cutting said rod into individual packageswith a hot knife to fuse the binder along the line of cut to form atemporary seal and then applying a permanent seal.

4. The method of forming a detergent package suitable for a singlewashing operation comprising mixing a powdered detergent with sufficientfusible binder to form a coherent mass when fused, forming an elongatedlongitudinally sealed rod comprising a wrapper and said mixture,severing said rod into individual packagm with a hot knife whereby saidbinder is fused along the line of cut and applying a plastic waterdispersible film forming material and drying said film to permanentlyseal said cut.

5. The method of forming a tubular package containing a heat fusiblegranulated material comprising forming an elongated longitudinallysealed rod comprising a wrapper enclosing said material, cutting saidrod transversely with a hot knife to form a seal along the line of cutto form individual packages and applying a completely dust-proof waterdispersible sealing material to the ends of said individual packages,said sealing material forming a tight seal with said wrapper.

6. The method of forming a detergent package suitable for a singlewashing operation comprising mixing a powdered detergent with sufficientfusible binder to form a coherent mass when fused, forming an elongatedlongitudinally sealed rod comprising a wrapper and said mixture,severing said rod into individual packages with a hot knife, wherebysaid binder is fused along the line of cut and applying a film ofplasticized polyvinyl alcohol along the line of cut and drying said filmto permanently seal said out.

7. The method of forming a detergent package suitable for a singlewashing operation comprising mixing a powdered detergent with sufficientfusible binder to form a coherent mass when fused, forming an elongatedlongitudinally sealed rod comprising a wrapper and said mixture,severing said rod into individual packages with a. hot knife to fusesaid binder along the line of out only to form a thin layer and applyinga film of sodium carboxymethylcellulose on said thin layer and dryingsaid film to permanently seal said cut.

8. The method of forming a detergent package suitable for a singlewashing operation comprising, forming an elongated longitudinally sealedrod comprising a tubular wrapper and a powdered fusible detergent,severing said rod into individual packages with a hot knife to fuse saiddetergent along the line of cut only to form a thin layer to preventsprinkling of said detergent particles, applying a water dispersiblefilm to permanently seal said end closure by applying film-formingplastic thereto, spreading said plastic across said end and solidifyingsaid plastic.

9. The process of manufacturing detergent packages suitable for a singlewashing operation comprising forming a rod comprising a tubular wrapper,and a mixture of detergent particles and suflicient fusible binder toform a coherent friable mass with said detergent particles when fusedenclosed within said wrapper, and cutting detergent packages of apredetermined length from said rod with a hot knife whereby the binderin the ends of the package will be fused and the detergent particlessealed therein upon cooling thereof.

10. Th process of manufacturing detergent packages comprising mixingsufficient binder to form a coherent friable mass with said detergentparticles when fused with a supply of detergent particles, heating themixture so formed to fuse the binder, enclosing the heated mixture in atubular wrapper, which is readily disintegratable during washing, toform a rod from which deter- References Cited in the file Of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Banks Jan. 30, 1951 Number 6 OTHERREFERENCES PVA-Polyvinyl Alcohol-Properties, Uses and App1icationan R 8:H Technical Bulletin-p. 2-1940.

Chem. Trade Jom'nal and Chemical Engineer-- Cellulose Gum inIndustry"-HollabaughJannary 4, 1946-p. 7.

